


A Matter of Trust

by ChElFi



Series: I Don't Dance [23]
Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: 30 Day OTP Challenge, Action, Action & Romance, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Captain Hill - Freeform, Day 23, Drama, Drama & Romance, Established Captain Hill, Established Relationship, F/M, In Battle Side By Side, Jasper Sitwell is always a good guy in my stories, Married Couple, Married Life, Married Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-23
Updated: 2014-09-23
Packaged: 2018-02-18 12:39:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2348732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChElFi/pseuds/ChElFi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The beginning of the end for Maria. She knew this day would come, thought she'd be more prepared when it did. But how can you really prepare to lose the only thing you ever wanted?</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Matter of Trust

**Author's Note:**

> This story, and the two chapters following, are taken from a larger story, a much larger story. So there will be a lot of pieces missing. I tried to make it make as much sense as possible, and also began to foreshadow it back in chapter 10. The funny thing is that the story ended up changing as I pulled it apart. I originally had Fury go "AWOL" as had at least once been done in the comics, and Maria and Sitwell run SHIELD via his LMD. But as I was writing this part out, the dude showed up. Idiot. Why do my characters just "show up?" *sigh* ;D
> 
> Title from the Billy Joel song.

The cacophony of gunfire was deafening. Maria could hear nothing being yelled into the comm, and she had no idea where anyone besides Sitwell was. Jasper was pinned down with her around the end of a corridor in the covert research facility in the backwoods of Wisconsin.

She'd known this mission was going to go sideways from the time it landed on her desk. There would be no avoiding it, and she only hoped she could keep the casualties on the SHIELD side to low double digits. In that vein, she'd requested the Avengers' assistance.

She hadn't informed them what the research was, only that it was a long thought abandoned SHIELD resource that someone had illegally restarted. Still, the look Tony had given her at the briefing told her he suspected exactly what was going on.

Sitwell traded places with her as she pulled back behind the wall to reload. About now would be a good time for Tony or someone else to show up.

Maria was jerked from her thoughts by the clanking noise of metal bouncing against tile and Jasper swearing then jumping on her as a grenade ricocheted off the wall and around their corner. There was nowhere to go. She covered her face and hoped she'd live to make this all up to Steve.

She heard, and felt, a thud, then the grenade exploded scattering debris from the floor and wall. Her ears were ringing, but as far as she could tell, she was physically intact. She looked over her shoulder and at first could only see Jasper smiling, then he stood, or, more accurately, was lifted off her.

Steve stood over her, hand offered in help. She reached up and grabbed it, then she and Jasper followed Steve down the corridor where the guards had been firing on them moments earlier. There was no gunfire now, the guards either assumed the grenade had done its work, or they didn't like their chances against Captain America.

At the end, the hallway split off in two directions. A gunshot to the right drew the trio's attention. They were all surprised to see Fury standing over a guard's body, gun in hand.

"Sir?" was really all Maria could think to say. Nick wasn't supposed to be here at all. Then her mind kicked into gear and she shot out verifications to him. She relaxed when he confirmed them all.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"We received a distress signal and I came in with the extraction team," Fury explained.

She gave him a confused look then turned to Steve who only shook his head. He knew of no one who'd signaled.

"We didn't send a signal," she said.

"I didn't figure any of you had," Fury said. "That's what made it suspicious and caused me to come in myself."

Maria thought that had been a very bad decision. If someone had used their protocols to send a distress signal without her authorization, then they had a traitor in their midst and Fury had probably walked into a trap.

She looked up and saw he was waiting on her for orders. This was her op, after all.

"Jasper, take that corridor with Commander Fury, and get to the control room" she said. "The Captain and I will go the direction the guards seem to have gone.

"When you get to the control room," she went on. "You'll have eyes on everything and this will be easier."

They split up and Maria followed Steve after the guards. It had been a long time since the two had been on the ground together for an op. They had always been formal during ops and hadn't changed that since they'd married. Still, today she hated the distance using his title made her feel.

She followed Steve around the next corner. He held his shield up in one hand, his gun in the other. She'd reloaded her own gun as they'd left Fury and Sitwell and had it at the ready. In the silent hall, the ringing in her ears seemed louder. She could pay attention now to the little things, like the way her heart was pounding in her chest as she anticipated their next turn in the maze of corridors.

They met two guards in the next hallway and Steve shielded them as Maria took them both out.

"Impressive," he commented as they stepped over the bodies.

"Yeah, they all seem rather strong," she said, and hoped she didn't betray her fear. She was certain Steve still didn't know the use of this facility.

"I was referring to your marksmanship," Steve chuckled.

She glanced up at him in surprise. Something more must have shown on her face because he furrowed his brow and held out a hand to her.

"Is something wrong, Maria?" he asked quietly.

She took a deep breath and shook her head. Stepping past the bodies, she squeezed Steve's hand briefly before continuing down the hall.

They found Stark and Pym in one of the labs. Tony gave Maria a surprisingly sympathetic look as she walked in. He'd never been happy with her for asking him to keep what he'd known under wraps for so long. She'd been able to hold him off for nearly a year, promising it was part of a deeper investigation. Once Steve found out she'd known about this as long as she had and didn't do anything to shut it down, even Tony understood how serious the fallout from that would be.

"Figure out what they did here?" Steve asked them.

Maria noted the look Hank gave Tony and the slight shake of the head Tony returned.

"We're just getting a look now, Cap," Tony lied, and Maria hoped Steve would miss it.

Fortunately, Natasha chose that moment to join them.

"Fury and Sitwell are in the control room," she reported. "They haven't seen anything on the cams and they're downloading the files that are left."

"Did the lab staff get onto the quinjets for prison transport?" Maria asked.

Natasha nodded.

"Finish securing the facility," Maria said. "You too, Captain."

Steve nodded and followed Natasha out of the lab. If he'd thought anything amiss he didn't indicate it.

Pym was looking between her and Stark now with far too much curiosity for Maria's liking.

"Is it all there?" she asked the pair.

Tony nodded.

"Are you going to explain why we couldn't say anything in front of Captain America?" Pym asked, and the way he said 'Captain America' made Maria feel a twinge of guilt, as if she didn't trust Steve with the information.

"He'll know soon enough," Maria explained.

"He deserves to know what SHIELD has been doing with his blood samples," Pym argued.

"Hank," Tony started.

"And you?" Pym turned to Ironman now. "You've known about this haven't you? None of this was a surprise to you."

"We can explain later, doctor," Maria cut into his rant. "For now we simply need all the paperwork stored and transported."

"Want copies?" Tony asked.

Maria shook her head.

"I think I have enough without it," she replied and cringed inwardly at the look Hank gave her.

She turned and left to check how the ground agents were doing but she didn't get far before Jasper's frantic voice came over the private comm.

"Hill, Fury's down," he yelled.

"Are you still in the control room?" she asked as she pivoted and turned in that direction.

"Yes," he replied. "I got the shooter but it's an abdominal shot and he's bleeding badly."

"I'll call Dr. Ames," she said then switched over to summon him to the control room while taking off in a run.

She and the doctor arrived together and she shouted her verification through the door for Jasper who opened it after a moment.

The doctor got to work while Jasper gave her a report. When he was done, Maria hesitated. She knew what she had to do, but she hated it. The other side had played its hand earlier than expected. Or maybe it was later and she'd just been hopeful for a few extra months.

"We have to get him to a safe house," she told Jasper. "I'll need you and Dr. Ames to go with him and stay. I'll send one more agent with you."

"You have someone you can trust with this?"

Maria nodded and summoned the agent.

A few minutes later, Agent Sharon Carter arrived. Maria gave her the abridged version of what was happening and why. They needed her to cover with Maria as Jasper brought the quinjet within range for transport as soon as Fury could be moved. Maria was hoping that they could use the cover of the other transports leaving to avoid detection.

"Wouldn't it be wise to have one of the Avengers assist?" Sharon questioned.

Maria shook her head. She needed to keep them as far away from things as possible. She'd only had them help in order to save lives.

"At least Steve could be of help," Sharon began and her use of his name under formal circumstances grated on Maria.

Sharon grated on her under any circumstance, though, so she wasn't surprised. It was personal and, frankly, stupid, even Maria thought so. Sharon was no threat to her and Steve, she never had been. Bruce had been the one to point out to her, when he'd tuned in on her frustration, that it would be more than a little weird for Steve to be interested his late girlfriend's niece, even if he wasn't with Maria.

But something in Maria's subconscious wouldn't let it go. And now that she was facing the task of admitting all the secrets she'd been keeping from Steve and all the lies she'd been telling to cover them up, Sharon loomed as a huge threat.

"The Captain," Maria emphasized Steve's title. "Is needed elsewhere."

* * *

Maria finally made it home two days later at three in the morning. She had the key out and was ready to push it into the lock when the door opened and Steve pulled her into his embrace.

"I missed you," he said, and she smiled a sad smile under cover of his arms.

"I missed you, too," she said as he pulled away and led her inside, closing and locking the door behind them.

"Everything settled with Nick?" he asked.

She almost panicked before realizing he was referring to the excuse she'd made. No, she reminded herself, the lie she'd told him.

"Yeah," she said. "I got it worked out."

Which was partially true. She'd gone to DC as soon as she finished her end in Wisconsin, and activated Fury's LMD. Then she covered for Sitwell's and Carter's absences by filing paperwork for a non-existent mission she'd been using as her own cover for years now.

In the end, Maria was glad Sharon had been in Wisconsin. It had given Maria an excuse to send Sharon away without her, or anyone else, being the wiser. At least she wouldn't be caught up in what was about to happen. Though Maria was certain her relief was entirely selfish. It was one less reason for Steve to be angry when everything went to hell later today.

She felt his hands fall on her shoulders as they walked to the bedroom. Maria relaxed back into him.

"Tired?" He leaned down and whispered in her ear.

She smiled and turned to face him.

"Not terribly," she said, as she ran her hands up his arms to his neck and pulled him down for a kiss.

From the beginning of their marriage, the bed was the one place Maria let Steve give her everything she wanted. He had insisted and, for reasons she never understood, she allowed it. But tonight she couldn't. Despite his protests and insistence, she gave him everything she knew he wanted, the way he liked it, slow, steady. And when he cried out her name it took every ounce of internal fortitude Maria had not to break down.

Hours later, as the room began to slowly brighten as the sunlight crept around the curtains, Maria still lay awake. Her head rested on Steve's chest. She tried to think of all the things she had to do this day, not about how doing them would cause her to lose the only thing she'd ever allowed herself to have, the only person she'd ever loved this deeply.

"What's wrong?" Steve asked. "You didn't sleep."

She allowed the softness of his voice to wash over her. It had always been different. Just like Steve was different, so unlike any other person she'd known. From the first time she'd met him that late night in the gym at SHIELD's old New York headquarters, his voice had affected her.

"Just a lot going on," she said.

At least it was only a sin of omission, she thought.

"Anything to do with Wisconsin?" he asked.

"Partially," she admitted.

He didn't ask any more questions. He knew her well enough by now to know when she could be open with information and when she couldn't.

She took a deep breath and sighed.

"I need to get into the shower," she said.

"Me too," he said and she looked up at him and tilted her head.

"I do need to get into work, as well," she reminded him.

"You were working 48-hours without a break," he complained. "You can be late."

"Not as late as taking a shower with you can make me," she told him as she attempted to extricate herself from his embrace.

But Steve pulled her down on top of him, then pulled her face to his for a kiss.

"I promise to be good this time," he said with a pout.

Maria chuckled and wondered how on earth his mother ever resisted that look.

Then she looked back at him and smiled seductively before kissing him again.

"You're _good_ all the time," she said, then pulled away and walked to the bath.

"I'll take that as a yes," Steve laughed and hurried after her.

Steve kept his promise, he was very good.

Maria was very late for work **.**


End file.
